


If it be thus to dream, still let me sleep!

by that_one_british_alien_from_doctor_who (nancynotruth)



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: (Spoiler Alert: It's Not), Bad Wolf Rose Tyler, Dimension-Hopping Rose, F/F, It's All A Dream...Or Is It??, Reunions, Reunited and It Feels So Good, Rose Tyler Loves the Doctor, Rose Tyler works for UNIT, The Doctor Loves Rose Tyler, Unedited We Die Like Men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:27:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23591545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nancynotruth/pseuds/that_one_british_alien_from_doctor_who
Summary: “Well, this is awkward.” The Doctor nervously pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. “You know, I honestly thought this was a dream. I have no idea how to proceed from here.”------The Doctor is going about her usual business, running down long hallways and using complicated lists of ingredients to thwart potential alien invasions, when the love of several of her past lives appears. She takes it in stride, but Rose Tyler isn't quite as sure.
Relationships: Metacrisis Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler (mentioned), Thirteenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Comments: 16
Kudos: 240





	If it be thus to dream, still let me sleep!

“Come on, Team!” The Doctor called, striding briskly along the hallway. “All we have to do is find three and a half teaspoons of sugar, green paint, and some yarn made from alpaca wool and I’m certain I’ll be able to fix this whole thing.” 

“As long as it doesn’t have anything to do with ox spit,” Graham called back.

“It doesn’t. Well, I don’t think it does. Well, if it does, I’ll make Ryan get it this time.” 

“Oi!” Ryan said. “Why not Yaz?” 

“Because this,” Yaz raised and lowered her arms dramatically, “Is a very nice jacket.” 

“Yes, yes, lovely jacket, Yaz. Now let’s get a shift on!” The Doctor wheeled quickly around to give her fam a glare, and then turned forwards again. “Oh, hello, Rose. You can come too!” 

“What?” Asked the girl who had appeared out of thin air. 

“Oh, hello,” Yaz said, drawing level with her. “Lovely jacket. We’re practically matching!”

“What?” She asked again, looking back and forth between Yaz and the Doctor. 

“She doesn’t like to be kept waiting,” Ryan said. “Learned that the hard way.” 

The girl’s legs began to move almost instinctively, and soon she’d nearly caught up with the Doctor. “Alright,” she said, and Yaz had to break into a jog just to get close enough to hear. “The running I understand. But can someone please tell me what’s going on here?” 

“We’re trying to find some things for the Doc,” Graham said. 

“Driving away a hostile alien race,” Yaz said at the same time. 

“No idea,” Ryan said, shrugging. “I’m just as confused as you are.” 

“The Kulhunarai are a migratory race, every seven trillion and five years they find a new spawning place to raise their young. They aren’t hostile, Yaz, they simply prefer uninhabited planets and if their randomly selected migratory planet is in any way populated, they will…make it uninhabited. So we need to hack into their leader’s geomap and plot it for Mercury instead. Just two planets difference, and a perfect spawning place! Got that all, Ryan? Rose? Just so you know, I am giving points now.” 

“Got it,” Ryan said, giving the Doctor a thumbs up, then shrugging at Yaz and Graham and mouthing whatever. 

“Migratory race, about to wipe out earth, reroute geomap to Mercury.” The girl rattled off, almost as though she’d actually understood the Doctor’s monologue, still nearly sprinting. “Now can someone please tell me who you are? And how you know my name? And—” She broke off as she nearly ran straight into the doctor’s suddenly rigid back. 

“Rose Tyler,” the Doctor asked as she slowly turned around, “You don’t know who I am?” 

“No!” Rose said, throwing her hands up, a yellow button flashing in one of her palms. 

“Well, this is awkward.” The Doctor nervously pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. “You know, I honestly thought this was a dream. I have no idea how to proceed from here.” 

“You could always, y’know, tell her who you are,” Ryan said, rolling his eyes and stepping forward to shake the girl’s hand. “Ryan Sinclair. Proper glad to meet you.” 

“Yasmin Khan,” Yaz raised her hand in a little wave. 

“Graham O’Brien. I’m his grandad.” Ryan gave a grudging half smile. 

“Rose Tyler,” the girl said. “Primary Coordinator for UNIT task forces. You may know me better as the Bad Wolf.” Her eyes sparked gold for just a second and Ryan jumped back, nearly knocking Yaz over. “Who are you?” She asked the Doctor, her voice hardening. “My real name is very privileged information. I’m considered dead in hundreds of parallel universes, and definitely in this one. How do you know my name?” 

“Where’s the Doctor?” The Doctor asked, looking up and down the hallway as thought she honestly expected herself to come walking along. Yaz put her fingertips to her forehead, and Graham turned to Ryan in complete confusion. Ryan just stood still, his brain unable to comprehend anything that was going on. 

“John Smith is where he’s been for the past fifty years, in the northwest corner of Greensmith cemetery.” Rose’s eyes weren’t gold anymore, but they were sparkling as she reached into her pocket. “Now tell me who you are. Don’t make me do something we’ll all regret.”

“Hey now,” Ryan said, holding up his hands as he backed away from the gun. 

“Don’t shoot her,” Yaz gasped, horrified. 

“Doc,” Graham said, “Just tell the girl what she wants to hear.” 

“I thought I taught you better than that!” The Doctor said, putting her hands on her hips. “I am disappointed, Rose Tyler, very disappointed.” 

“Tell me who you are, and how you know who I am,” Rose said, her voice trembling slightly, but the gun steadily aimed at the Doctor’s left heart. “My identity can’t be compromised. I don’t want to shoot you, but I will.” 

“But I just got this body,” the Doctor said, pouting a bit. “And I thought you didn’t like it when I regenerate. Remember that whole business with the severed hand?” 

Rose’s eyes widened, glowing golden with such intensity that Ryan had to look away. “Doctor?” She asked, in the faintest of whispers. 

“Rose Tyler.” It was silly, but to Graham it almost seemed like a prayer. 

The blaster hit the ground with a dull thud. A beam of bright blue light shot from the long silver barrel. 

“Down!” The Doctor shouted, as she ran forward to tackle Rose to the ground. The fam dropped like she had, when she’d fallen to earth just after regenerating. The blue light ricocheted around the hallway, bouncing off the steel walls like a high speed pingpong ball, gradually dissipating as it zigzagged from wall to ceiling to wall.   
“It’s you,” Rose said quietly, almost silent under the harsh breathing of Team Tardis. “It’s really you.” 

“It’s me,” the Doctor confirmed, just as quietly. 

“Northern again,” Rose said. “Fantastic,” she imitated in an over the top northern accent.

“I have never sounded like that!” The Doctor scrunched up her nose indignantly, and Rose laughed at her expression. The Doctor tried to maintain her expression, but gave in and began to giggle as well. Soon, they were powerless with laughter, the Doctor still lying on top of Rose, the beam of deadly light still dancing just over their heads. 

“Wish you knew what the joke was, too?” Graham asked, jerking his head ever so slightly at the two blondes.

“Why didn’t you just tell me who you were?” Rose asked, when they’d calmed down. 

“Well, I thought it was a dream at first, and then I didn’t want to disrupt your timeline, or mine, or mine in the alternate universe. And that gun was very distracting.” 

“Why did you think it was a dream?” 

“When I sleep, I dream about you,” the Doctor said, shrugging as though it was the most natural thing. “I mean, usually. Sometimes I dream about the muppets. Do you know the muppets? They’re so funny! And one time, I had this dream about this great big…”

“You still think about me?” Rose asked, putting her finger on the Doctor’s lips to stop her rant. “I thought you’d go off and find someone else. Someone better.” 

“I didn’t,” the Doctor said, then, quickly, “Don’t worry! I wasn’t alone. Except for four and a half billion years, but I don’t really think that counts. I had loads of friends, even got married! Twice! Maybe three times, it all gets so confusing when one of them’s a Zygon. But I could never replace you. Not Fantastic Rose Tyler.” 

“So you still like me?” Rose asked in a tiny voice, looking away, biting her lip. The Doctor gently took her chin in her hand and turned her face up again. 

“Rose Tyler,” she said, “I—”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all very much for reading! Comments and kudos brighten my day like nothing else. Please, stay safe out there. Wash your hands! Love you all xx


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